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81-818: Established as a mission church by Louisiana Creole Nicolas Augustin Metoyer, St. Augustine is celebrated as the first church in Louisiana to be built by and for free people of color . It is also among the oldest churches founded and built by and for African Americans . The church and cemetery are within the Cane River National Heritage Area , and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places . Because of its significance in Catholic and Creole history, St. Augustine also

162-593: A Louisiana French ethnic group descended from the inhabitants of colonial Louisiana before it became a part of the United States during the period of both French and Spanish rule. They share cultural ties such as the traditional use of the French , Spanish , and Creole languages and predominant practice of Catholicism . The term Créole was originally used by French Creoles to distinguish people born in Louisiana from those born elsewhere, thus drawing

243-497: A contracted length of service, to pay back the cost of passage and board. Engagés in Louisiana generally worked for seven years, while their masters provided them housing, food, and clothing. Starting in 1698, French merchants were required to transport men to the colonies in proportion to the ships' cargo. Some were bound by three-year indenture contracts. Under John Law and the Compagnie du Mississippi , efforts to increase

324-519: A detailed analysis of this event.) Concurrently, the number of white-identified Creoles has dwindled, with many adopting the Cajun label instead. While the sophisticated Creole society of New Orleans has historically received much attention, the Cane River area in northwest Louisiana—populated chiefly by Creoles of color—also developed its own strong Creole culture. Today, most Creoles are found in

405-578: A distinction between Old-World Europeans and Africans from their Creole descendants born in the New World. The word is not a racial label—people of European, African, or mixed ancestry can and have identified as Louisiana Creoles since the 18th century. After the Sale of Louisiana , the term "Creole" took on a more political meaning and identity, especially for those people of Latinate culture. The Catholic Latin-Creole culture in Louisiana contrasted greatly to

486-488: A family started collecting local land, which eventually amassed to 6,000 acres. At the center of this collected land was Isle Brevelle (formerly the Brevelle Plantation). During this era and in this location, mulatto people lived similarly to white Southern planters, in large mansions with expensive furniture, and in some cases they held their own slaves. Nicolas Augustin Metoyer's home no longer stands, but

567-658: A historic place where the enslaved Africans would set up a market, sing, worship, dance, and play music, it was named after the Kongo people. it’s the birthplace of jazz music . Today, Hoodoo and Louisiana Voodoo practitioners still gather at the Square for rituals and to honor their ancestors. The African Bambara Empire was known for capturing slaves by raiding neighboring regions and forcibly assimilating young men into slave soldiers, known as Ton . The empire relied on captives to replenish and increase its numbers. By 1719,

648-595: A parish in its own right, St. Augustine expanded to serve four other churches in the area: St. Charles Chapel at Bermuda , St. Anne Church (Spanish Lake) (serving the Adai Caddo Indians of Louisiana ), St. Joseph's Catholic Mission at Bayou Derbonne , and St. Anne Chapel at Old River . A second church burned in the early 1900s. It was replaced by the present-day church building, which was completed in 1917. Tradition holds that early furnishings included paintings of patron saints Augustine and Louis, in honor of

729-624: Is a marked destination on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail . Tradition holds that the church was established by Nicolas Augustin Metoyer in 1803 and that services have been held continuously since then. Historical records challenge the local lore. Parish records document the founding of the Chapel of St. Augustine "as a mission of the church of St. François of Natchitoches" in July 1829, shortly after

810-406: Is a mix of corn pulp, bear fat, and bacon. Today " jambalaya " refers to a number of different of recipes calling for spicy meat and rice. Sometimes medicine men succeeded in curing colonists thanks to traditional remedies, such as the application of fir tree gum on wounds and Royal Fern on rattlesnake bites. Many French colonists both admired and feared the indigenous peoples' military power. At

891-680: Is a small Creole community located on the banks of the Red River approximately 80 miles southeast of Natchitoches. St. Genevieve is a parish church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Alexandria . While railways had changed the commercial nature of agriculture and passenger service throughout the country beginning in the 1830s, the Cane River region was late in attracting the large investments of capital that rail service required. The area did not see rail service until well after

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972-482: Is named after Jean Baptiste Brevelle II (French: Jean Baptiste Brevel II. ), its earliest settler and the 18th-century explorer and soldier of the Natchitoches Militia. He is the son of Jean Baptiste Brevelle , a Parisian-born trader and explorer, and his Adai Caddo (French: Natao ) Native American wife, Anne Marie des Cadeaux . The baptism of Jean Baptiste Brevelle II is recorded on May 20, 1736 in

1053-676: Is now Senegambia (which are the modern states of Senegal , Gambia , Mali , and Guinea , Guinea Bissau and Mauritania ) . This original population creolized, mixing their African cultures with elements of the French and Spanish colonial society and quickly establishing a Creole culture that influenced every aspect of the new colony. Most enslaved Africans imported to Louisiana were from modern day Angola , Congo , Mali , and Senegal . The highest number were of Bakongo and Mbundu descent from Angola , representing 35.4% of all people with African heritage in Louisiana. They were followed by

1134-413: Is recorded on May 20, 1736 in the oldest Catholic Registry in the Louisiana colony. Brevelle was granted the island by David Pain, the subdelegate at Natchitoches in 1765 for his service to the French and Spanish crowns as a Caddo Indian translator and explorer of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. The Metoyer brothers were two of ten children of the French merchant Claude Thomas Pierre Metoyer and

1215-473: The gens de couleur libres in Louisiana became increasingly associated with the term Creole , in part because Anglo-Americans struggled with the idea of an ethno-cultural identity not founded in race. One historian has described this period as the "Americanization of Creoles", including an acceptance of the American binary racial system that divided Creoles between white and black. (See Creoles of color for

1296-689: The Adai , Natchitoches , and Hasinai tribes of the Caddo Confederacy. The Cane River National Historical Area has designated a cultural trail, the Isle Brevelle Trail , to highlight the birthplace of Creole culture The Louisiana Creole community is made of descendants of French and Spanish colonials, Africans, Anglo-Americans, and Native Americans of the Caddo Confederacy ( Natchitoches , Adai ). Isle Brevelle

1377-491: The Anglo-Protestant culture of Yankee Americans . Although the terms Cajun and Creole today are often portrayed as separate identities, Cajuns have historically been known as Creoles. Presently, some Louisianians may identify exclusively as either Cajun or Creole, while others embrace both identities. Creoles of French descent, including those of Québécois or Acadian lineage, have historically comprised

1458-517: The Cane River and Bayou Brevelle (near Montrose). Two major highways in Isle Brevelle include LA 119 and LA 484 . The island is a narrow strip of land some thirty miles in length with three- to four-mile breadth located south of Natchitoches, Louisiana. It is delineated and split by waterways to include the Cane River , Red River , Old River (Natchitoches Parish) , and Bayou Brevelle (named after Jean Baptiste Brevel). Isle Brevelle

1539-460: The Créole de couleur Metoyer family who built the chapel. Seated behind them were the families of prominent white planters and other Creoles within the community with surnames Blanchard, Brevelle, Garcia, Landry, and Lemoine. Post-Civil War, St. Augustine chalked up another apparent first in U.S. racial history: its own congregation by this time was almost exclusively people of color; but, it served as

1620-718: The Greater New Orleans region or in Acadiana . Louisiana is known as the Creole State . Through both the French and Spanish (late 18th century) regimes, parochial and colonial governments used the term Creole for ethnic French and Spanish people born in the New World . Parisian French was the predominant language among colonists there. Their dialect evolved to contain local phrases and slang terms. French Creoles spoke what became known as Louisiana French . It

1701-577: The Isleños of St. Bernard Parish maintained cultural traditions from the Canary Islands . ) In 1765, during Spanish rule, several thousand Acadians from the French colony of Acadia (now Nova Scotia , New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island ) made their way to Louisiana after they were expelled from Acadia by the British government after the French and Indian War. They settled chiefly in

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1782-558: The Mandinka people at 10.9% and Mina (believed to represent the Ewe and Akan peoples of Ghana ) at 7.4%. Other ethnic groups imported during this period included members of the Bambara , Wolof , Igbo people , Chamba people , Bamileke , Tikar , and Nago people , a Yoruba subgroup. While about two-thirds of enslaved Africans brought to Louisiana during French period were from

1863-851: The Senegambian region, the majority of enslaved Africans brought to Louisiana were from present-day Angola. The term Congo became synonymous with "African" in Louisiana because many enslaved Africans came from the Congo Basin . Renowned for their work as agriculturalists, the Bakongo and Mbundu peoples of the Kingdom of Kongo , Kingdom of Ndongo , and the Kingdom of Loango were preferred by slave traders for their slash-and-burn technique , mining and ironwork expertise, mastery of fishing, and their bushcraft skills . Elements of Kongo and Mbundu culture survive in Louisiana. Congo Square ,

1944-701: The Third Treaty of San Ildefonso , although it remained under nominal Spanish control until 1803. Weeks after reasserting control over the territory, Napoleon sold Louisiana to the United States in the wake of the defeat of his forces in Saint-Domingue . Napoleon had been trying to regain control of Saint-Domingue following its rebellion and subsequent Haitian Revolution . After the sale, many Anglo-Americans migrated to Louisiana. Later European immigrants included Irish, Germans, and Italians. In

2025-480: The 1520s. There are historical links to the same groups traveling along the length of the Mississippi River to what became parts of Texas. At one point Jefferson Parish started in or around Orange County, Texas , and reach all the way to New Orleans' southernmost regions next to Barataria Island. This was also possibly the original name of Galveston. After enduring a journey of over two months across

2106-485: The 1970s, featuring a portrait of Nicolas Augustin Metoyer posing in a Prince Albert coat and swath of green fabric. This painting had been part of the Melrose Planation and went up for auction in the 1970s, the pastor of the church brought the oldest descendants of Nicolas Augustin Metoyer to the auction and they pleaded to be allowed to purchase the painting for the Isle Brevelle community and for display in

2187-627: The American colonial period. The common Mande culture that the Bambara people brought to French Louisiana would later influence the development of the Louisiana Creole culture . Slave traders sometimes identified their slaves as Bambara in hopes of securing a higher price, as Bambara slaves were stereotyped as more passive. The French slavery law, Code Noir , required that slaves receive baptism and Christian education, although many continued to practice animism and often combined

2268-714: The Atlantic Ocean, the colonists faced challenges upon reaching the Louisiana frontier. Living conditions were difficult: they had to face an often hostile environment, including a hot and humid climate and tropical diseases. Many died during the crossing or soon after arrival. Hurricanes , which were unknown in France, occasionally struck the coast. The Mississippi Delta suffered from periodic yellow fever epidemics. Additionally, Europeans introduced diseases like malaria and cholera , which flourished due to mosquitoes and poor sanitation. These challenging conditions hindered

2349-660: The City of Natchitoches to Grand Encore, was the Brevelle Station. Oral tradition by the members of the Prud’homme family states that Alphonse I constructed the wood-frame Brevelle Station depot. Alphonse II recalled that “Grandpa Alphonse had built a place there, so they put a side track there [to] pick up cotton, or anything that had to be shipped.” The depot continued to serve as a stop on the Texas and Pacific Railroad until it

2430-463: The Creole group. Most of these immigrants were Catholic. New Orleans, in particular, has always retained a significant historical population of Creoles of color , a group mostly consisting of free persons of multiracial European , African , and Native American descent. As Creoles of color had received superior rights and education with Spain & France than their Black American counterparts, many of

2511-450: The French and Indian tribes in the region. The Indians bought European goods (fabric, alcohol, firearms, etc.), learned French, and sometimes adopted their religion. The coureurs des bois and soldiers borrowed canoes and moccasins. Many ate native food, such as wild rice, bears, and dogs. The colonists were often dependent on Native Americans for food. Creole cuisine is the heir of these mutual influences: thus, sagamité , for example,

St. Augustine Catholic Church and Cemetery (Natchez, Louisiana) - Misplaced Pages Continue

2592-694: The French began to import Africans slaves into Louisiana from Senegal . Most of the people living in the Senegambia area, with the exception of the Bambara, were converted to Islam under the Mali and then Songhai Empire . Since Islamic law prohibited Muslim enslavement of other Muslims, the Bambara who resisted religious conversion were highly represented among those sold into slavery. Gwendolyn Hall documents that Africans of Bambara origins predominated among those enslaved in French Louisiana during

2673-702: The French-speaking Creole population. As more refugees entered, those who had first gone to Cuba also arrived. Officials in Cuba deported many of these refugees in retaliation for Bonapartist schemes in Spain. Isle Brevelle Isle Brevelle is an ethnically and culturally diverse community, which began as a Native American and Louisiana Creole settlement and is located in Natchitoches Parish , Louisiana . For many years this area

2754-694: The Isle Brevelle Creoles, “These are people of leisure and many of wealth and means. The Bishop bought us a house with sixty acres of land there.” The Daughters of the Cross expanded to operate 5 schools in Louisiana and relied heavily on donations from wealthy Creole families such as the Prud’homme, Metoyer, and Brevelle's. The Brevelle family with plantations along the Red River at Grand Ecore, Isle Brevelle, and Marksville Brouillette (Avoyelles) provided funds, food, and religious artifacts for both

2835-407: The Metoyer brothers, as well as an altar brought from Europe by other family members. The original bell that hung in the belfry above the vestibule is said to be the one still in use. An image of the original church survives as a backdrop in the contemporary oil portrait of its founder that hangs in the church today. An oil painting titled Papa Augustin Metoyer (c. 1836) has hung in the church since

2916-400: The New World's natural purity. Indian women were consistently considered to be good wives to foster trade and help create offspring. Their intermarriage created a large métis ( mixed French Indian ) population. In spite of disagreements (some Indians killed farmers' pigs, which devastated corn fields) and sometimes violent confrontations ( Fox Wars , Natchez uprisings, and Chickasaw Wars ),

2997-623: The Presentation School and Saint Joseph's, which their children and those of their workers attended. By 1859 the school listed between 120 and 130 girls. Additional nuns were brought in as enrollment continued to rise. A larger school, Saint Joseph's, and a convent were built closer to St. Augustine Church. The school flourished through 1862, until the effects of the Civil War resulted in a plummeting enrollment; in December 1863,

3078-641: The Spanish Crown (and later by the United States of America after the Louisiana Purchase ) changed the names of the Brevelle family members to reflect the new spelling: Jean Baptiste Brevelle. The Brevelle Plantation grew to become one of the largest plantations in the South producing cotton, tobacco, indigo, lumber, bear grease, cattle, and food crops. Nicolas Augustin Metoyer (1768–1856), was

3159-403: The United States' earliest writers, poets, and civil activists (e.g., Victor Séjour , Rodolphe Desdunes and Homère Plessy ) were Louisiana Creoles. Today, many of these Creoles of color have assimilated into (and contributed to) Black American culture , while some have retained their distinct identity as a subset within the broader African American ethnic group. In the twentieth century,

3240-549: The ancestors of French Creoles) who were transported to Louisiana. (The Ursuline order of nuns, who were said to chaperone the girls until they married, denied the casket girl myth.) The system of plaçage that continued into the 19th century resulted in many young white men having women of color as partners and mothers to their children, often before or even after their marriages to white women. French Louisiana also included communities of Swiss and German settlers; however, royal authorities did not refer to "Louisianans" but described

3321-399: The chapel's designer and builder. As a means of collecting money for the church in earlier times, families of the parish were required to rent pews for their personal use and to donate religious items. Name boxes where attached at the end of each pew which allowed its owner exclusive use, even if the church was full. The blessing of the church was done by Fr. J. B. Blanc on July 19, 1829 under

St. Augustine Catholic Church and Cemetery (Natchez, Louisiana) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3402-472: The church he built, St. Augustine Parish still does. St. Augustine Parish Church (or Isle Brevelle Church) was established as a mission church by Creole Nicolas Augustin Metoyer and other prominent Creole families of Isle Brevelle, St. Augustine is celebrated as the first church in Louisiana to be built by and for free people of color . Augustin's father, Claude Thomas Pierre Metoyer had taken him to France in 1801 to visit his homeland. While there Augustin

3483-517: The church was constructed. The mission was recognized in 1856 as a parish in its own right, and authorized a resident priest. When Father Jean Baptiste Blanc consecrated the chapel for religious use (19 July 1829), he reported that it had been "erected on Isle Brevelle on the plantation of Sieur Augustin Metoyer through the care and generosity of the above-named Augustin Metoyer, aided by Louis Metoyer, his brother. ... The said chapel ... having been dedicated to St. Augustine, shall be considered as under

3564-561: The church. For many years an annual festival for the Isle Brevelle community has been held at St. Augustine Church. The first Creole to settle the area is Jean Baptiste Brevelle II. Isle Brevelle and Bayou Brevelle are named for him. Brevelle was an 18th-century explorer and soldier of the Natchitoches Militia. He is the son of Jean Baptiste Brevelle , a Parisian-born trader and explorer, and his Adai Caddo Indian wife, Anne des Cadeaux . The baptism of Jean Baptiste Brevelle II

3645-600: The colonial population as "French" citizens. New France wished to make Native Americans subjects of the king and good Christians, but the distance from Metropolitan France and the sparseness of French settlement intervened. In official rhetoric , the Native Americans were regarded as subjects of the Viceroyalty of New France , but in reality, they were largely autonomous due to their numerical superiority. The colonial authorities (governors, officers) did not have

3726-491: The colonization efforts. Furthermore, French settlements and forts could not always provide adequate protection from enemy assaults. Isolated colonists were also at risk from attacks by indigenous peoples. The Natchez massacred 250 colonists in Lower Louisiana in response to their encroachment on Natchez lands. Natchez warriors took Fort Rosalie (now Natchez, Mississippi ) by surprise, killing many settlers. During

3807-456: The colony and marry colonial soldiers. The king financed dowries for each girl. This practice was similar to events in 17th-century Quebec when about 800 filles du roi (daughters of the king) were recruited to immigrate to New France under the financial sponsorship of Louis XIV . French authorities also deported some female criminals to the colony. For example, in 1721, the ship La Baleine brought close to 90 women of childbearing age from

3888-969: The colony, however, and did not do so until 1769. That year, Spain abolished Native American slavery. In addition, Spanish liberal manumission policies contributed to the population growth of Creoles of color, particularly in New Orleans. Nearly all of the surviving 18th-century architecture of the Vieux Carré ( French Quarter ) dates from the Spanish period (the Ursuline Convent is an exception). These buildings were designed by French architects, as no Spanish architects had come to Louisiana. Spanish Louisiana's Creole descendants, who included affranchis (ex-slaves), free-born blacks, and mixed-race people, known as Creoles of color ( gens de couleur libres ), were influenced by French Catholic culture. By

3969-770: The convent was closed, and the nuns were called home to the Avoyelles. In addition to the Daughters of the Cross Presentation School in Avoyelles Parish, the descendants of Isle Brevelle founder were amongst the founding patron families (Brevelle, Ponthier, Bordelon and Lachney) of the St. Genevieve Catholic Church of Brouillette . Their names appear prominently at the entrance of the church and its iconic cemetery with above-ground tombs. Brouillette

4050-491: The early 1800s, many Creoles from Saint-Domingue also settled in Louisiana, both free people of color and slaves, following the Haitian Revolution on Saint-Domingue , contributing to the state's Voodoo tradition. In the final stages of the French and Indian War with the British colonies, New France ceded Louisiana to Spain in the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau (1762) . The Spanish were reluctant to occupy

4131-457: The early 19th century, floods of Creole refugees fled Saint-Domingue and poured into New Orleans with more than half of the refugee population of Saint-Domingue settling in Louisiana. Thousands of refugees, both white and Creole of color , arrived in New Orleans, sometimes bringing slaves with them. While Governor Claiborne and other Anglo-American officials wanted to keep out additional free black men, Louisiana Creoles wanted to increase

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4212-743: The end of the Reconstruction era (after the Civil War). Among the early railroads established in Natchitoches Parish was the Natchitoches Railroad, established in 1887. By 1898, it was operating as the Natchitoches & Red River Valley Railway, which lasted until 1901, when it was incorporated into the larger Texas and Pacific Railway . One of the stops on the 32-mile-long railroad line, which stretched from

4293-510: The end of the 18th century, many Creoles of color were educated and worked in artisanal or skilled trades; many were property owners. Many Creoles of color were free-born, and their descendants enjoyed many of the same privileges as whites while under Spanish rule, including property ownership, formal education, and service in the militia. Indeed, Creoles of color had been members of the militia for decades under both French and Spanish control. For example, around 80 Creoles of color were recruited into

4374-623: The existing church structure by Bishop Van De Van was at a solemn high mass on February 15, 1917 with Fr. J. Baumgartner as its pastor. In 1856, the Daughters of the Cross convent were invited to establish a school on Isle Brevelle called Saint Joseph's School. The nuns had established a convent and school the previous year in Avoyelles Parish named the Presentation School. Mother Superior Hyacinthe LeConniat wrote to her brother of

4455-450: The financial backing of Creole families Metoyer, Brevelle, Guidry, Balthazar and Roques, St. Augustine expanded to found four mission churches in the area: St. Charles Chapel at Bermuda , St. Joseph's Catholic Mission at Bayou Derbonne , St. Anne Chapel at Old River , and St. Anne Church (Spanish Lake) . In 1913 under Bishop Van de Van, the order of Holy Ghost Fathers took charge of the parish and remained until 1990. The dedication of

4536-430: The former slave Marie Thérèse Coincoin , sometimes (albeit erroneously) called Marie Thérèse Metoyer. He had initially leased her services as a domestic and concubine. When the parish priest filed charges against the black Coincoin for bearing mixed-race children while living in the residence of a white man, and threatened to sell her away to New Orleans, Metoyer bought her from her owner and privately manumitted her. Across

4617-538: The human resources to establish French law and customs, and instead often compromised with the locals. Indian tribes offered essential support for the French: they ensured the survival of New France's colonists, participated with them in the fur trade, and acted as expedition guides. The French/Indian alliance provided mutual protection from hostile non-allied tribes and incursions on French and Indian land from enemy European powers . The alliance proved invaluable during

4698-408: The later French and Indian War against the New England colonies in 1753. The French and Indians influenced each other in many areas. The French settlers learned the languages of the natives, such as Mobilian Jargon , which was a Muscogee -based pidgin or trade language closely connected to western Muscogean languages like Choctaw and Chickasaw . This language served as a lingua franca among

4779-450: The majority of white-identified Creoles in Louisiana. In the early 19th century amid the Haitian Revolution , refugees of both whites and free people of color originally from Saint-Domingue arrived in New Orleans with their slaves having been deported from Cuba, doubled the city's population and helped strengthen its Francophone culture. Later 19th-century immigrants to Louisiana, such as Irish , Germans , and Italians , also married into

4860-485: The militia that participated in the Battle of Baton Rouge in 1779. Throughout the Spanish period, most Creoles continued to speak French and remained connected to French colonial culture. However, the sizeable Spanish Creole communities of Saint Bernard Parish and Galveztown spoke Spanish. The Malagueños of New Iberia spoke Spanish as well. (Since the mid-20th century, the number of Spanish-speaking Creoles declined in favor of English speakers. Even today, however,

4941-442: The mother church for the predominantly white congregation of Mission Ste. Anne on Old River . The original structure has not survived. Union forces during the Red River Campaign of May 1864 were said to have torched the first church. On March 11, 1856, the mission of St. Augustine at Isle Brevelle was decreed by Bishop Auguste Martin to be a parish in its own right and assigned Fr. Francois Martin to be its first resident pastor. As

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5022-1125: The next thirty-seven years, he manumitted each of their children. Coincoin, as a médecine , planter, and businesswoman, worked to buy the freedom of her five older black children from an earlier union with another slave. She secured that freedom for three of them. Together, her offspring and their families created a large Créole of color community in Natchitoches Parish that spread the length of Cane River Lake . Its core would be, and still is, St. Augustine Parish on Isle Brevelle . Louisiana Creole people Peoples in Louisiana Isleños Redbone Cajuns Creoles of color [REDACTED]   Kingdom of France 1718–1763 [REDACTED]   Kingdom of Spain 1763–1802 [REDACTED]   French First Republic 1802–1803 [REDACTED]   United States of America 1803–1861 [REDACTED]   Confederate States of America 1861–1862 [REDACTED]   United States of America 1862–present Louisiana Creoles ( French : Créoles de la Louisiane , Louisiana Creole : Moun Kréyòl la Lwizyàn , Spanish : Criollos de Luisiana ) are

5103-610: The next two years, the French attacked the Natchez in return, causing them to flee or, when captured, be deported as slaves to Saint-Domingue (later Haiti ). In the colonial period, men tended to marry after becoming financially established. French settlers often married Native American and African women, the latter as slaves were imported. Intermarriage created a large multiracial Creole population . Aside from French government representatives and soldiers, colonists included mostly young men. Some labored as engagés (indentured servants); they were required to remain in Louisiana for

5184-410: The official Texas and Pacific map. However, neither Magnolia nor Oakland took advantage of railroad spur connections to facilitate transport of their goods to market, instead relying on road transport to transshipment points on the rail line or into the city of Natchitoches. Even though less efficient than direct connections to the railroad, this was still much quicker and easier than transporting goods on

5265-413: The oldest Catholic Registry in the Louisiana colony. Jean Baptiste Brevelle II was granted the island by David Pain, the subdelegate at Natchitoches in 1765 for his service to the French and Spanish crowns as a Caddo translator and explorer of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. As the colony changed hands from France to Spain, the spelling of the Brevel surname changed to Brevelle. Records kept by

5346-408: The presence of the Catholic Church. Most other regions were reached by Protestant missionaries instead, which may have reached other parts, including the islands. French Creoles intermarried with Algonquin people with whom they shared French language, culture, and heritage as a tribal community. In addition, Canadian records, especially those of the Roman Catholic Church, record marriages as early as

5427-470: The prison of La Salpêtrière in Paris to Louisiana. Most found husbands among the male residents. These women, known as The Baleine Brides many of whom were likely felons or prostitutes, were suspected of having sexually transmitted diseases. Such events inspired Manon Lescaut (1731), a novel written by the Abbé Prévost , which was later adapted as an opera. Historian Joan Martin claimed that little documentation describes casket girls (considered among

5508-402: The protection of this great doctor." Tradition also describes the role of Augustin's brother Louis (founder of the nearby Melrose Plantation , a National Historic Landmark ), as the chapel's designer and builder. The Church of St. Augustine is distinctive among Southern churches of all denominations for its racial role reversals. Surviving pew records show that the front seats were occupied by

5589-422: The relationship with Native Americans was relatively good in Louisiana. French imperialism was expressed through wars and the enslavement of some Native Americans. But most of the time, the relationship was based on dialogue and negotiation. Labor shortages were the most pressing issue in Louisiana. In 1717, John Law , the French Comptroller General of Finances, decided to import African slaves there. His objective

5670-411: The same time, some French governors looked down on their culture and sought to keep a clear divide between the white settlers and Indians. In 1735, interracial marriages were prohibited in Louisiana without the authorities' approval. However, by the 1750s in New France, the Native Americans came under the myth of the Noble Savage , holding that Indians were spiritually pure and played an important role in

5751-433: The son of Marie Thérèse Coincoin and Claude Thomas Pierre Métoyer, and he has been considered the "grandfather" of the community of Isle Brevelle. He was born into slavery and remained in bondage (initially to Don Manuel Antonio de Soto y Bermúdez, and wife Marie des Nieges de St. Denis DeSoto) until 1792, at the age of 24. Around this same time his mother, Marie Thérèse Coincoin was also freed from enslavement and they, as

5832-623: The southwestern Louisiana region now called Acadiana . The governor Luis de Unzaga y Amézaga , eager to gain more settlers, welcomed the Acadians, who became the ancestors of Louisiana's Cajuns . Spanish Canary Islanders, called Isleños , emigrated from the Canary Islands to Louisiana 1778 and 1783. In 1800, France's Napoleon Bonaparte reacquired Louisiana from Spain in the Treaty of San Ildefonso , an arrangement kept secret for two years. Spain ceded Louisiana back to France in 1800 through

5913-430: The title of St. Augustine, the patron saint of Augustin Metoyer. At this time, the church was to be a mission of St. Francois of Natchitoches. On March 11, 1856, the mission of St. Augustine at Isle Brevelle was decreed by Bishop Auguste Martin, the 1st Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Natchitoches , to be a parish in its own right and assigned his brother, Fr. Francois Martin to be its first resident pastor. With

5994-487: The two faiths. The Code Noir conferred affranchis (ex-slaves) full citizenship and complete civil equality with other French subjects. Louisiana slave society generated its own Afro-Creole culture that affected religious beliefs and Louisiana Creole . The slaves brought with them their cultural practices, languages, and religious beliefs rooted in spirit and ancestor worship , as well as Catholic Christianity—all of which were key elements of Louisiana Voodoo . In

6075-455: The use of engagés in the colony were made, notably including German settlers whose contracts became defunct when the company went bankrupt in 1731. During this time, in order to increase the colonial population, the government recruited young Frenchwomen, filles à la cassette (in English, casket girls , referring to the casket or case of belongings they brought with them), to travel to

6156-527: Was considered "the richest cotton-growing portion of the south". Father Yves-Marie LeConiniat, a priest from France, referred to it as an "earthly paradise". Isle Brevelle is a featured destination on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail with over 60 cultural, religious, architectural, and historically significant African, Native American, and Creole sites including St. Augustine Parish Church , Melrose Plantation , Badin-Roque House and burial sites of Louisiana Creole people and Native Americans of

6237-496: Was destroyed in a fire in 1914. In 1915, the Texas and Pacific Railway Company petitioned the Railroad Commission for permission to discontinue service to the Brevelle Station. It was not until 1927 that the Texas and Pacific Railway constructed its still-extant depot in Natchitoches to service its spur to the city. The spur that connected Natchitoches to the main rail trunk had existed since at least 1903, according to

6318-593: Was known as Côte Joyeuse (English: Joyous Coast ). It is considered the birthplace of Creole culture and remains the epicenter of Creole art and literature blending European (predominantly French and Spanish), African, and Native American cultures. It is home to the Cane River Creole National Historical Park and part of the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail . Located in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana , Isle Brevelle consists of approximately 18,000 acres of land between

6399-433: Was spoken by ethnic religious French and Spanish and the French and Romantics of Creole descent. An estimated 7,000 European immigrants settled in Louisiana in the 18th century, one percent of the French population present at the founding of the United States. There is record of the signing of constitutional agreements in prominent French Creole Plantation Homes. Southern Louisiana attracted considerably more Frenchmen due to

6480-465: Was struck by the arrangement of the French villages where community life was centered about the church. Upon his return to the Isle Brevelle and with the help of the Creoles of Isle Brevelle, the first church was constructed in 1803 using their own money and land. Tradition also describes the role of Augustin's brother Louis (founder of the nearby Melrose Plantation , a National Historic Landmark ), as

6561-407: Was to develop the plantation economy of Lower Louisiana. The Royal Indies Company held a monopoly over the slave trade in the area. The colonists turned to sub-Saharan African slaves . The biggest year was 1716, in which several trading ships appeared with slaves in a one-year span. During the French period about two-thirds of the enslaved Africans brought to Louisiana came from the area that

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